Separating from your device can induce what some researchers have called "nomophobia," the fear of "losing the connectedness that smartphones allow." That fear can, in turn, cause people to cling to their phones in a way that resembles addiction.

5It Could Make You Depressed

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People who constantly check their smartphones tend to experience greater levels of depression and anxiety, according to a study from psychologists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champlain. This might be because people struggling with depression use their phones as a kind of escape.

"It appears that people who use cell phones to avoid stress and negative events in their real life also tend to have mental health problems," Dr. Alejandro Lleras, a psychologist at the university and the study's lead author, told HuffPost.

"If you are not the one calling the shots, mobile tech can easily take over your life and leave you burnt out and broken," Penman told HuffPost UK.

As an experiment, HuffPost Tech editor Damon Beres disabled notifications on all of his devices for a week. He found that doing so allowed him to relax more and finish a book he'd been chipping away at.

7It Can Make Learning Difficult

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Smartphones can be an incredible resource for students. But they can also make it hard to concentrate. A study from Rice University found that using smartphones in the classroom made learning more difficult.

"Because smartphones are always on, they lead to interruptions when the students are studying/reading/preparing," Dr. Philip Kortum, the study's lead author and a faculty member in the psychology department at Rice University in Texas, told HuffPost.

If you really want to absorb information, it might be best to shut down your phone.

8It Kills Conversation

Babycakes Romero

So many of us whip out our phones when a conversation drops off or a crowded elevator feels too quiet. But that impulse can prevent people from connecting with each other, in the view of photographer Babyface Romero, who in 2014 published a photo collection documenting smartphone use.

"It is sad that this technology which was supposed to connect people is making them disconnect from each other in person," Romero told HuffPost.